The Daily Word of Righteousness

A Giant Step Forward, #27

The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go." (John 11:44,45)

The Lord Jesus has come to His Church now to help us get rid of the graveclothes that bind us. Like Lazarus, we have been raised but we are bound with the graveclothes of sin. The Lord is ready to deliver us if we are ready to be delivered.

Let us make sure we do not miss the hour of our visitation.

Joshua Ten, and the Coming Salvation

The account of Joshua and the cave at Makkedah portrays two aspects of the manner by which we overcome sin.

The first aspect is our willingness each day to confess our sins, denounce them, renounce them, and then draw near to God and resist them. This is a daily struggle against the forces of darkness that seek to fill us with death rather than the eternal life that is in Christ.

The second aspect is that of Christ coming and calling forth the kings of sin, so to speak, that reside in the depths of our personality.

In the Book of Joshua, the Israelites, led by Joshua, were defeating the Amorites.

After an all-night march from Gilgal, Joshua took them by surprise. The LORD threw them into confusion before Israel, who defeated them in a great victory at Gibeon. Israel pursued them along the road going up to Beth Horon and cut them down all the way to Azekah and Makkedah. As they fled before Israel on the road down from Beth Horon to Azekah, the LORD hurled large hailstones down on them from the sky, and more of them died from the hailstones than were killed by the swords of the Israelites. (Joshua 10:9-11).

When the five kings of the Amorites realized they were being defeated they hid in the cave at Makkedah.

Now the five kings had fled and hidden in the cave at Makkedah. (Joshua 10:16)

Joshua commanded that the five kings be imprisoned in the cave.

He said, "Roll large rocks up to the mouth of the cave, and post some men there to guard it. (Joshua 10:18)

The Israelite army continued to chase the Amorites and thoroughly defeated them.

Then the army returned to Joshua at the camp that had been established at Makkedah.

Joshua ordered that the stones be rolled away and the five kings brought from the cave.

This is what is taking place today. The Lord Jesus has come to us in the spiritual fulfillment of the Day of Atonement and is calling forth the "kings" that have kept His people in the bondages of sin.

Joshua had his commanders come and put their feet on the necks of the Amorite kings.

Joshua said to them, "Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Be strong and courageous. This is what the LORD will do to all the enemies you are going to fight." Then Joshua struck and killed the kings and hung them on five trees, and they were left hanging on the trees until evening. At sunset Joshua gave the order and they took them down from the trees and threw them into the cave where they had been hiding. At the mouth of the cave they placed large rocks, which are there to this day. (Joshua 10:25-27)

To be continued.